


Are You My Mother?

by acquiescence_ (malawi)



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-03
Updated: 2010-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malawi/pseuds/acquiescence_
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Orphan Jared wants to find his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You My Mother?

The thing was, being an orphan wasn't all that terrible. Sure it wasn't exactly the high life, and that whole not having parents thing really kind of sucked, but all in all there were worse ways to live.

Chad had always said that Jared didn't mind their lot in life because he was the only one of them who really had folks out there somewhere. Which was true, and Jared was bound and determined to go find them once he was old enough to get out of this place – he'd tried that whole running away thing more than once over the years and in the end all it got him was a sore backside and an empty stomach.

Just a few more months though, and Jared would be out of this place. He was going to put this place behind him and start looking for his folks the way he'd always wanted. Just a few more months.

At the moment he was sitting on a window ledge looking out at the streets of New York at night – Chad might have been right for once, he _was_ getting too damn tall to be cramming himself into the little bit of space by the window. But Jared didn't care – he liked looking out at the city; liked watching the people slowly return to their homes.

Sometimes he'd think about the sort of home he might have had with his parents. It was probably boss. Some nights, when things got bad when yet another of his friends had been adopted and taken away from him, it was all that had gotten him through, thinking about his folks – his mom and his dad, they hadn't wanted to leave him – he just knew it, and Ms. Ferris had told him about the note, the one that said they'd come back for him when they could, they hadn't wanted to leave him. Who would want to leave him after all?

In any case his folks had left him with a pocket watch, though the cover was broken. Split in half actually – his folks had the other half, that way when they found each other again they'd know it was right. Inside there was an inscription, well half an inscription, Jared never could piece it together – he'd have to wait until he found his folks, until they put it back together. He wore the pocket watch every day, tucked into the pocket of his jeans, pulling it out at random intervals throughout the day to check the time – like he was on a schedule or something.

He sighed leaning his head back against the wall behind him, just a few more months; he could make it that long. Just a few more months and he would be out of there, and off to find his parents.

* * *

  
"I thought you said you weren't going to try running away anymore," Chad said, sighing as he laid back on one of the beds in the dormitory.

"I know," Jared told him, not bothering to actually stop what he was doing to look at Chad; he knew better than that and he didn't want to get distracted. There was just a month left before he would be leaving the home, and he found that the less time he actually had to spend there the harder it was to stay.

And so for the second time in as many weeks he was planning yet another escape attempt. This time he was pretty sure it would work - despite Chad's derisive comments. Chad never had anything good to say about his plans, though he was always there helping him out - Jared never doubted he always would be too.

"You're gonna get caught," Chad told him, staring up at the ceiling.

It was still dark out, just a few hours before sunrise most likely. Jared paused what he was doing long enough to pull out his watch and check before tucking it carefully away into his pocket again.

"You always say that." He grinned.

"And I'm always right too."

"Not this time."

"You always say that."

"This time it's true." Jared was convinced that this time his plan would work - though really when compared to some of the plans he'd had in the past this one didn't quite rank up there with the best plans. He was tying together the sheets from the bed, the _Hudson Street Home for Boys_ didn't have a lot of ways out, there was the front door and the back, but there were plenty of windows and Jared planned on using one of these to his advantage tonight.

He'd taken all the sheets off the beds in the room, despite the protests of the other residents; they had blankets they wouldn't freeze; besides, he needed them more. As he tightened the final knot Jared nodded decisively. "There, I think it's ready."

"This is stupid; does this even work outside of the movies?" Chad asked again as he sat up, looking at the pile of sheets on the bed where Jared had been working. "You're going to break your neck."

Jared ignored Chad and bundled up the sheets heading for the window. "Look, all you have to do is pull this back up when I'm down," he told Chad as he secured one end of his makeshift rope to the frame of the nearest bed.

"Yeah, yeah." Chad rolled his eyes. "Say hi to Sophia for me if you see her." He winked at Jared at this thought.

"You ought to come too, say hi to her yourself," Jared pressed for the fourth time that night. Chad was always mooning after Sophia Bush, the girl who walked past the home nearly every day, he'd even managed to grab her attention a few times, getting her to stop and talk. Jared could tell he was head over heels for her, not that Chad would ever have admitted to it.

"Are you kidding? Ms. Ferris will tan your hide when you get caught, and I'd rather my skin stayed smooth, thank you very much." Ms. Ferris wasn't a bad woman, she wasn't particularly cruel to the boys under her care, but she was strict.

Jared rolled his eyes, Chad always the vain one, though he didn't really blame him, he'd gotten the belt more times than he could count living there - but this time he was sure it would work. It had to, he couldn't stay here for another month, couldn't keep waiting to find his folks. He had to get out, he knew they were just waiting on him and he couldn't keep putting this off.

Tossing the bundle out the window, Jared leaned out and watched the rope wind its way down to the ground. "Alright, wish me luck."

"Nope," Chad said, shaking his head.

Jared didn't pause before he was climbing out the window and carefully making his way down the rope. It didn't take him too long before his feet were on the ground. "Made it," he called up as quietly as he could, and Chad leaned his head out the window before he started hauling the sheets back up.

"See you tomorrow," Chad called with a laugh as Jared gave him a wave and headed down the street.

All the shops were still closed, though people were setting up as he walked down the streets. Grocers setting out bins of apples and peaches, his mouth watered as he walked past; it wasn't often they got fresh fruit in, the few funds that came in were dedicated to other necessities, and any fruit they got was of the canned variety. He might have to pinch an apple or two later in the day - not now though, not enough people around, wouldn't be able to blend in well. Not that he ever blended in well, it was difficult do to when you towered over most people - Jared had lamented this fact since a growth spurt hit him when he was 15, and though there were times when it came in handy he thought he'd rather have preferred being able to blend in.

Later in the day he would definitely wish he could blend in more, but for the time being he was fine. He'd swiped an apple and was just rubbing it against his chest when he heard a whistle behind him. He immediately stiffened, standing still where he was and very slowly turning to look behind him - sure enough not too far behind him was a familiar face.

He'd never actually learned the name of the man who always seemed to catch him whenever he was out - but he knew that face. He'd seen it plenty of times over the years. He was always coming around to see Ms. Ferris, Jared had it on pretty good authority that the two might have had a bit of a thing for one another.

Thankfully, the man was far enough away today that Jared had a chance of dodging him. So rather than wait for him to catch up, Jared ducked his head and sped off, heading into an alley in hopes of losing the other man.

It didn't take long for Jared to feel confident that he'd lost the other man and he breathed a sigh of relief, sinking down to an overturned box in an alley way and leaning his back against the brick wall behind him. Now that being caught wasn't at the forefront of his mind his thoughts returned to the apple he'd tucked away in his pocket while he'd been running. He pulled it out carefully and grinned - still looked pretty good.

As he settled in with his apple Jared hummed to himself working on his plan now that he was out on the streets. His initial plan had really been just the escape, and now that he'd accomplished that he needed to work on Phase 2. He chewed slowly, enjoying the apple and coming up with different ways that he might go about finding his folks. He'd already tried asking Ms. Ferris, and she'd never been any help. So he was a bit of a roadblock but he wasn't too worried.

As he sat there working on his plan and eating his apple, Jared was mostly oblivious to the world around him, until he was tapped on the shoulder. He immediately stiffened and turned slowly to look into that same familiar face he'd been running away from earlier. His shoulder slumped and he sighed.

"Can't you just leave me alone? I'm getting out in a month anyway, so what's a few extra weeks?" he asked, not even standing up.

"Can't leave you out here on the street, boy," the man said gruffly, grabbing Jared by the scruff of his shirt and pulling him up. "You know how Ms. Ferris worries about you boys." .He marched Jared straight back to the _Hudson Street Home for Boys_ as he talked about how Jared should have a little more respect for Ms. Ferris, and not worry her so much.

Jared went without too much protest, though he mumbled again about being out on the street in just a few weeks, and he could already see the smug grin on Chad's face when he got back so he tried to push the thought from his mind. When they arrived the man rang the buzzer and waited until Ms. Ferris appeared. She wrenched open the door when she caught sight of Jared in the tall windows tugging him back into the building.

"Mr. Beaver how can I thank you?" she asked, looking at the man now standing alone outside the building. "You're always bringing my boys back to me."

"It's my pleasure ma'am." He said giving her a small smile.

Of course a whistle from one of the boys inside seemed to stop the moment before anything more could happen. "Thank you again Mr. Beaver," she said, closing the door hurriedly and grabbing Jared by the ear.

"How many times is this now?" she asked him, despite having had to stand almost on tip toes to even reach Jared's ear she had him bent over now as she tugged him to her office and pressing him into one of the chairs there.

"Dunno," Jared said sullenly, rubbing at his ear when he was free.

Ms. Ferris sat at her desk flipping through a few papers before she started speaking again. "One hundred and fifty seven." She said finally, not looking up from the papers on her desk as she made a few more notes. "That's how many Jared." She sighed. "You're leaving in a month, why do you insist on keeping up this sort of behavior?"

Jared had sunk low in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, all he needed now was a pout and he'd look exactly the same way he had the first time he'd been caught trying to run away - though a bit taller now. Despite changing so much over the years, there were still some things that never changed.

"What do you think would be a suitable punishment?" Ms. Ferris asked still waiting for Jared to answer, though he continued to keep his mouth shut. "Might do you some good to stay here a bit longer." She said, and Jared looked up sharply when she said that.

"You can't." Jared said quietly, though he looked a bit pale at the thought.

And it was true, Samantha Ferris didn't have the power to keep Jared there once he was of age but it seemed that the threat was a good one. But before she could explain the buzzer rang again.

"What now?" She sighed. "You didn't take anyone else with you this time, did you?" She asked eying Jared carefully, he shook his head. He'd done that a few times before but it never ended well and eventually people stopped volunteering for his little excursions.

Chad and Tom and Mike were the ones that used to come with him all the time, they had made so many escape attempts over the years, though Jared learned quickly that Tom and Mike weren't usually the best to take with him, they didn't really have it in them to make a good clean escape – and Chad, well he was easily distracted, which usually lead to them getting caught. No it was best to go alone.

The buzzer sounded again and Ms. Ferris stood up, she caught Jared by the ear again and tugged him toward the closet by her desk. "You wait in there until I've decided what to do with you." She told him, and gave him a look and Jared knew better than to try anything, at least for the moment.

Hurrying down the stairs again Ms. Ferris opened the door half expecting to see Jim Beaver there again, though she sighed when there was another man at the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked eying him suspiciously.

"Yes I hope so. I'm Jeffrey Morgan." He said offering her his hand. Sam shook the man's hand carefully, still suspicious. "I work for Mr. Ackles."

"Mr. Ackles?" She asked her heart skipping a beat. "Jensen Ackles the millionaire?"

"Jensen Ackles the billionaire." Mr. Morgan corrected. Everyone knew about Jensen Ackles here in New York, hell everyone knew about Jensen Ackles in most places around the world – though he was a bit of a celebrity here. "May I come in please?"

"Why yes, of course." Ms. Ferris said suddenly her whole demeanor changing as she opened the door wider letting the man into the building. "This way." She said leading him upstairs to her office.

"So what can I do for you Mr. Morgan?" Ms. Ferris said quickly stacking the papers that were still haphazardly strewn across her desk motioning to the chair where Jared had just been for him to sit. She did her best to make the desk at least appear organized as quickly as possible, hovering over the desk until the task was complete.

"As I am sure you're aware Mr. Ackles is involved in a number of charity organizations benefiting different groups of people across the country." Mr. Morgan gave Ms. Ferris an even look as he spoke, looking completely unfazed by the amount of papers on her desk or her attempts to straighten up while he spoke. "Mr. Ackles is interested in opening up his home to one of your boys here for a week." Mr. Morgan said getting straight to the point.

"Oh well that's wonderful, there are plenty of boys here who would love to have such an opportunity." Hell, she would love the opportunity, she loved her boys but there were times when a break would have been nice. "Were there any sorts of specifics you were interested in?" She asked, flipping through a precariously balanced stack of papers near the edge of her desk.

Just then Jared, who'd been listening with his ear pressed to the door, managed to open the closet just a crack peeking at the man who sat across from Ms. Ferris.

"No not really, any orphan will do, though I suppose Mr. Ackles would like a friendly boy." Jared poked his head out of the closet and grinned at Mr. Morgan.

Mr. Morgan grinned in return while Ms. Ferris was still sorting through papers. "And intelligent." Jared looked very thoughtful at this like he had all sorts of intelligent thoughts in his head that needed thinking about right at that particular moment. "And happy." Jared started laughing, causing Mr. Morgan to laugh as well. Ms. Ferris noticed Jared finally and shook her head standing from the desk and going to close the closet door.

As she returned to the desk Jared opened the door again.

"How old do you think?" Ms. Farris was asking now.

"Oh 15 maybe, no 16, no 17 yes 17, Mr. Ackles will want someone closer to his age so they'll be able to relate to one another better."

"Seventeen that's fine, we've got several seventeen year olds here, all looking forward to their next birthday of course, it would be a lovely thing for one of them to get to go."

Jared finally stood up to his full height after having been crouched over so Ms. Ferris wouldn't notice him. "Oh I almost forgot, Mr. Ackles would much rather host a taller boy." Mr. Morgan said grinning at Jared who was still hiding in the closet.

"Tall seventeen year old?" Ms. Ferris said narrowing her eyes at the closet door, though Jared had managed to mostly close it again before she looked in his direction. "Sorry, I'm not sure we'll have anyone that fits that description."

"No?" Mr. Morgan asked frowning. "Well what about this boy?" He wondered standing up and going to the closet and opening the door letting Jared out.

"Jared?" Ms. Ferris asked innocently. "Oh you wouldn't want Jared, he's far too much trouble, we have many more well behaved children here and I'm sure they'd be a better fit for Mr. Ackles."

"No I think Jared would do rather well to tell you the truth." Mr. Morgan said slinging an arm around Jared's shoulders and smiling at him. "How would you like to stay with Mr. Ackles this week?"

"Wow ... really?" Jared asked more cautious now that he was actually being given the opportunity, or at least it seemed he was being given the opportunity.

"Yes really."

"Leaping lizards," Jared said in an awed voice.

Ms. Ferris sighed. "Are you sure I can't convince you to change your mind, Mr. Morgan, Jared really is a handful."

"I'm sure we'll all get along splendidly, Ms. Ferris, thank you." Mr. Morgan said giving her a small smile.

"Do you need to get anything before we go?" He asked Jared now; it seemed they were leaving right away.

"No, I don't really have much." Jared said looking down at his feet.

"Well then let's go I'm sure Mr. Ackles will be very eager to meet you."

* * *

  
When they arrived at Mr. Ackles home, Jared had to ask if they were at some sort of hotel or something, he'd never seen such a big house before - it didn't seem possible that this was just one person's home. And yet Mr. Morgan had told him that yes this was Mr. Ackles home.

"And call me Jeff; we keep things a bit more casual around the house here." He said as they got out of the car walking up the stairs to the door.

"We'll just go over a few things while we wait for Jensen to finish up with his meetings for the day, we'll get you settled into a room too." Just then a loud barking sounded from down the hall and a moment later a dog came scrambling down the hallway jumping up on Jeff's legs.

"Ah there's my girl, did you miss me?" He asked kneeling down to stroke her back while she licked his face and her hindquarters wiggled with glee. Once she'd gotten enough love from Jeff she was jumping on Jared next. "Sorry about that," Jeff said, "down Bisou." He gave the dog a pointed look and she got down though she began giving Jared a baleful look until he knelt to pet her the way Jeff had done.

"She's a bit of an attention hog if you hadn't noticed." he said chuckling. "But this is my girl; I've had her since before I came to work for Jensen." He explained.

"She's beautiful." Jared said, he'd never had a dog before - though he'd tried before in the past but Ms. Ferris didn't take too kindly to her boys hiding dogs in the house. Maybe one day though, he might like to have two dogs, so they didn't get lonely when he had to go out.

"Well come on, there's lots to see before Jensen gets back." Jeff said grinning and leading Jared down the hall and into the rest of the house.

Over the next hour or so, Jared was shown a house larger than anything he'd ever dreamed possible. There was even a pool inside, and there were tennis courts in the back, plus the biggest game room he'd ever seen in his entire life. He just stood a little slack-jawed at the room when Jeff had opened the door. He hadn't even known they'd made televisions that size, and there was ever game system imaginable.

"Wow, I guess Mr. Ackles plays a lot?" Jared asked slowly.

"Not as much as you might think, but feel free to come down here as much as you'd like, lord knows the rest of us do." He said chuckling and leading Jared toward the kitchens next and getting an even bigger kick out of his reaction to that room.

Finally they ended in the gardens, where they found a man practically standing on his head his eyes closed. Jared slowed as they approached a little hesitant; it wasn't every day you came across a man doing headstands in a garden after all, though Jeff kept walking. The man let his feet tip forward over his head so that his toes were on the ground now. His eyes opened when he heard Jeff near and a slow grin spread across his face.

"Back I see." The man said before bringing his feet back up and then laying down flat in the grass and sighing. "Went really well today." he said his eyes closed to block out the sun as he spoke. "I can tell I'm really opening up."

"I'm sure you are." Jeff smiled fondly at him. "Here stand up, there's someone you should meet." Jeff offered a hand to the man and helped him to stand and put his arm around his shoulders the way he had with Jared earlier in the day.

"Jared this is Misha Collins, Misha this is Jared."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Misha didn't offer Jared his hand the way Jared had expected; instead he gave him a little sort of bow and smiled. Jared wondered if he should return the gesture, but felt stupid and so he just stood there.

"Nice to meet you, too." He felt even more stupid though when he didn't do anything, but it didn't look like he'd offended anyone.

"Misha is Mr. Ackles personal yoga instructor." Jeff explained and for the first time Jared noticed that the arm around Misha's shoulders wasn't exactly as innocent as it had been with him earlier in the day, and he noticed the way Misha leaned into Jeff, easy and relaxed, though perhaps that was just a side effect of the positions his body had been in earlier, Jared was pretty sure he'd have trouble standing too if he'd been doing that.

"I guess you've seen everything now." Jeff said, and he looked like he was wracking his brain trying to think of anything else there might have been to show Jared. "Yes I think that's probably everything, now I guess we just have to wait for Jensen to get back - he's been in meetings all day, that happens a lot." Jeff explained.

"Though while we wait I think we could probably go enjoy that television if you like." Jeff suggested with a grin, and Jared's eyes went wide and he nodded eagerly.

* * *

  
Jared had lost track of the time as he and Jeff and Misha had been playing video games and flipping channels on the huge screen in the game room. Though after a few hours his eyes had started to droop, Jeff was lounging on the couch he feet kicked up on the coffee table with Misha tucked against his side, head in his lap while Jeff played idly with his hair, none of them were really watching the action movie that they'd settled on. Jared was drifting in and out of sleep, the sound of gun shots and explosions pulling him closer to waking every time they sounded otherwise he would have been asleep a long time before now.

It was the sound of someone clearing their throat that finally managed to pull him completely into awakening. And he rubbed a hand over his face sitting up quickly, head darting around for where the noise had come from. And there in the doorway to the game room was a man, well not quite a man, a young man he supposed looking at Jeff and Misha fondly before letting his eyes settle on Jared and quirking up an eyebrow at him.

"Friend of Jeff's?" He asked coming into the room and letting himself fall over the back of the sectional in the space between Jeff and Jared.

"Um ..." Jared wasn't sure what to say.

"This is Jared." Jeff said stretching, and saving Jared, apparently he wasn't quite as asleep as he'd seemed. "He's from the _Hudson Street Home for Boys_."

Jensen turned his head to look at Jeff still not quite grasping Jeff's meaning. "Remember you're opening your home to one of the boys for a week?" Jeff prodded.

"It's alright; I mean you don't have to." Jared interrupted, suddenly seeing that this wasn't really something Jensen wanted to do – just some charity case or something. "I don't mind going back; I'm getting out in a few weeks anyway."

Jensen let his gaze return to Jared looking him over slowly before he shook his head. "Don't be silly, of course you'll stay with us this week." He told him flashing a grin. "I've just been in and out of meetings all day, it slipped my mind, but you're more than welcome to stay with us if you like."

Jared smiled relaxing again; he hadn't expected Jensen to be so young. Sure he'd heard of Jensen Ackles before, who hadn't? He was the wealthiest man in New York, he was a computer genius. He'd managed to develop some sort of new amazing computer program when he was 16 and set himself up for life, now he was a billionaire who didn't really have to work any more if he didn't want to - though it seemed like he did. Jared had expected him to be older, maybe in his late thirties or early forties; it was hard to believe someone so young could have developed some of the most influential computer technology in the world today.

"Jared, was it?" Jensen asked eyes ahead on the television as he spoke, Jared could see the lights from the screen reflected in the lenses of Jensen's glasses and nodded stupidly.

"I mean yeah, Jared Padalecki." He very rarely used his whole name, though it seemed like that was probably the thing to do right now.

"That's quite a mouthful." Jensen said his eyes crinkling around the edges as he grinned looking at Jared from the corner of his eyes. "Sorry I was gone all day, I'm afraid I never was a very good host. Though it seems like Jeff and Misha managed to keep you pretty well entertained for most of the day." He chuckled nudging Jeff's shoulder, who's head had fallen back against the back of the sofa again eyes closed once again.

"Sleeping here." Jeff mumbled and swatted at Jensen.

"Oh yeah, I've never seen anything like this." Jared told Jensen, glancing back at all the media equipment at the head of the room.

"It helps me unwind." Jensen told him shrugging. "Sometimes there is nothing that can help me unwind better than a round of Halo, do you play?" He asked glancing at Jared again.

"Um ... a little, we played some earlier."

"Fancy a match?" The corners of Jensen's mouth looked like they were struggling not to rise.

"Uh, sure."

He hadn't really been watching the movie, and it seemed like Jensen wanted to play. He shrugged he could play, he had been starting to get the hang of it earlier while playing with Jeff and Misha, though he got killed more times than he was willing to admit to anyone.

"Great." Jensen grinned, changing the channel and turning on the game system; he tossed Jared one of the game remotes and settled into the couch.

They didn't talk much. Jared, who always had something to say, was at a loss for words, and Jensen seemed pretty intent on the game. When they started Jared was worried he was just going to get killed over and over again the way he had been earlier - it certainly seemed like that when Jensen took him out with a head shot within the first 2 minutes of the game, but he got better the longer they played. Sure he still got killed but it wasn't quite as pathetic as earlier. He even managed to kill Jensen's character several times.

"God I can't believe you did that." Jensen said laughing, when Jared had managed to take him out with a pretty skillful attack.

Jared grinned and shrugged. "That's the game." He said simply, ducking behind some cover when Jensen's character turned in his direction.

"Sure it is, just didn't think you'd manage to pull something like that off."

"I'm not that bad." Jared said pouting.

"Course you're not. I just happen to have a lot of practice."

"Yeah, I bet."

Jared glanced over to where Jeff and Misha were still both sleeping, curled around one another. He almost would have forgotten they were there if it hadn't been for the soft snoring that was coming from their direction.

"What time is it?" He wondered, looking around the room for some sort of clock and not seeing one.

"Not sure, getting tired?"

"Not really, not often I get to do things like this."

"No?"

"We don't really have this sort of set up back at the orphanage." Jared said shrugging. They were quiet after that, Jared shaking his head at himself for bringing that up, Jensen didn't want to hear about that sort of thing. Jensen looked thoughtful.

"Want to play again?" Jared asked finally the silence getting to be a bit much for him.

"Ah, you know I think you were right it is getting kind of late. I think it might be time to put those two to bed," Jensen said grinning.

Jared nodded slowly. He cursed himself he'd done something wrong, said something he shouldn't, Jensen was probably going to want to send him back tomorrow - Tom probably would have been a better choice, he always knew the right thing to say, maybe even Mike though he wouldn't have been pleased about leaving Tom. Jared shook his head as he managed to find the way back to the room Jeff had showed him earlier in the day - the place where he'd stay for the next few days.   
Throwing himself down on the bed, Jared sighed looking up on the ceiling. Even just one day of this would have been completely worth it - if only to see how some people lived.

* * *

  
The next day was much the same as the day before. Jensen was gone early, another full day of meetings on his schedule and Jared was alone with Jeff and Misha again. Not that he minded the two older men were nothing if not amusing. The way they looked at one another and teased was enough to make Jared blush and laugh repeatedly throughout the day.

"So do you want to try out the pool?" Jeff asked. They'd spent the morning getting Jared some new clothes, seeing as he only had the one pair and that just wouldn't do for a whole week staying with Jensen. Jared felt a bit stiff in the new clothes, it had been years since he'd gotten new clothes, his new jeans actually went down below his ankles and the sleeves reached his wrists. When you were an orphan you learned to deal with clothes that were a little bit too small.

"I dunno." He shrugged tugging at the collar of his shirt - it was just a t-shirt but he felt like it was a bit too tight, despite Jeff, Misha, and the woman at the shop telling him it fit perfectly. He'd let Jeff get it though he wasn't entirely sure he believed them.

"Hey I've got an idea." Jeff said a devious grin on his face, "I just need to get a few things."

* * *

  
Jared was panting, ducking behind the back of one of the sofas, he wasn't exactly sure what room he was in any more, but for the moment he wasn't in the line of fire.

He gripped his gun tight and peeked around the side of the sofa, no sign of Jeff or Misha anywhere it was now or never. He took a slow breath and barreled across the room straight for the door. He tried to keep himself in a low crouch but that was a bit difficult considering his size, he was almost at the door when Misha rolled out from behind a chair taking just a moment to get Jared into his sights. Before he could fire though Jared ducked into the closest door he could reach closing it behind him.

With his back to the door Jared let himself try and catch his breath, his eyes closed as he sucked in deep lungfulls of air. It was the sigh that made him open his eyes again, he expected to see Jeff maybe Misha standing there ready to shoot him, but instead he was surprised to see Jensen sitting at a desk, glasses pushed low on his nose and papers scattered about here and there – apparently he'd ducked into Jensen's home office.

Jensen pulled off his glasses rubbing at his temples. "I am trying to work," he said doing his best to keep his tone even though Jared could see the tension in his shoulders.

"Oh, sorry," Jared said slowly, pulling himself up off the floor. "We were ... we were just playing laser tag." He felt like he should explain, scratching his leg with the gun as he stood there, wondering if he was going to get in trouble.

Jensen put his glasses back on and looked at Jared, he sighed again looking back to the computer screen in front of him.

"Did you ... did you want to play too?" Jared asked, doing his best not to sound too hopeful, he would like to spend a little time with Jensen while he's staying here.

"I can't," Jensen snapped.

"Oh right, of course. I'll just ... I'll just get out of your way." Jared sighed and turned his back to Jensen, hand on the doorknob.

He could hear Jensen behind him fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed working on who knows what, probably something Jared would never be able to even wrap his mind around. "Sorry I bothered you," he said turning the handle.

The fingers on the keys stopped. "Jared... wait."

And rather than open the door, where he was sure to find Misha waiting for him, Jared turned to face Jensen again. "Yeah?" he asked slowly.

"They're killing you aren't they?" Jensen had a small smile on his face as he pulled his glasses off again.

"That obvious?"

"Nah, I just know them."

"Not exactly fair."

"No it's not," Jensen agreed nodding. "How about we even things up? What do you say?"

Jared tried not to let his face light up, tried to hide that ridiculous grin that he knew was spreading across his face, but he couldn't help it. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've got an extra vest and gun in here somewhere, just give me a minute to find it." Jensen pushed away from his desk and Jared felt his pulse start to race at the thought of actually having a chance at winning. "I'm not doing anything that can't wait for a few hours."

Jared tried not to let himself smile too much, tried not to be too happy that Jensen was going to spend time with him. He was going to be leaving in a few more days anyway, best not to get attached.

Soon Jensen was strapping his vest on, and had a gun in hand. "Come on, let's go out this way." Jensen said waiving Jared over toward another door he hadn't known was there. "Get my back?" he asked, hand on the door knob.

Jared gave him a quick nod and a grin.

* * *

  
They beat Misha and Jeff easily, it seemed Jared and Jensen made an even better team than the two older men. They were all gasping for breath collapsed on the carpet in the game room.

"I am... too old ... to be ... doing this." Jeff spoke between breaths, one of his legs draped over Misha's as they lay beside one another on the floor.

Jensen laughed and reached over to poke Jeff's side. "Don't say things like that," he scolded playfully. "You're going to force me to hire someone else as my personal assistant if you can't keep up." He was grinning, clearly teasing Jeff and Jared decided he liked this side of Jensen, a lot.

"I wasn't aware laser tag was part of the requirements for your personal assistant," Jeff told him, swatting his hand away.

"Oh yes, that was in the fine print, I'm surprised you don't remember that part."

"You know I don't read the fine print."

"Yes I do, that's why I made sure to include several things that you'd never agree to otherwise in there," Jensen said grinning to himself proud of that accomplishment it seemed.

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Jeff protested.

"You signed it."

"I keep telling you to read the fine print." Misha spoke up now ruffling Jeff's hair. "You never listen; now look what you have to do now." He was teasing, Jared liked the way they were all able to tease one another so easily. The banter moved back and forth as they all slowly caught their breath and cooled down.

"God I am starving." Jared spoke up now, his stomach growling loudly as if to make its point even more known.

"Yeah, I could use a little something to eat too." Misha this time.

"I could throw some steaks on the grill."

Jared's stomach growled again at Jeff's suggestion.

"Well it sounds like we have a least one person who likes that suggestion, why don't you do that Jeff." Jared said laughing at Jared and poking his side.

With a groan Jeff pulled himself up off the floor getting to his feet, he offered a hand to Misha who came up much more easily than Jeff and the two of them disappeared into the hall, no doubt headed for Jensen's massive kitchen.

"Do you guys do this often?" Jared asked when they were alone.

"Not as often as I'd like," Jensen said sighing, pulling himself up into a seated position.

"Why not?"

"I'm a busy man Jared." Jensen shrugged, brushing a hand through his hair as he spoke. "There is always some meeting to go to, someone wanting to try and sell me something, someone wanting me to try and develop something new."

"But you have so much ... I mean you don't have to do any of that do you?" Jared asked his eyebrows pulling together. "I mean, you're rich enough, right? You don't really have to work if you don't want to."

Jensen laughed, it wasn't the same carefree sound he'd made earlier though. "No, you're right; I don't have to work if I don't want to. But I do." He shrugged again. "I like being able to keep busy, I like supporting good causes and helping people when I can. Sure I could just sit around spending my money on things I want all day, but that'd get old don't you think?"

"I suppose so." Jared hadn't thought about it like that, though he supposed Jensen had a point - he might be able to do that for a while, maybe a few months if he really tried but it would get old pretty quickly.

Dinner was one of the best Jared could remember in his entire life, the four of them sat around the table laughing and talking until late in the night. It wasn't until Jeff had tucked Misha under his arm and headed to bed that Jared really became aware of how long they'd actually been talking, he pulled out his watch to check the time his eyes going wide.

He and Jensen had cleaned up the table together, and he waved to Jensen as he headed to his room for the night.

* * *

  
The rest of the week went a lot like that, Jensen would be working and something Jared was doing would distract him. Not that Jared interrupted him on purpose, he really did try to let Jensen do his work, but inevitably he'd end up giving Jensen a hopeful grin and the other man couldn't resist.

The following day Misha had been trying to teach Jared some of his yoga poses and just as Jensen was passing by the windows to the garden he saw Jared lift his feet over his head and hold the position for about two seconds before he went toppling over. He laughed and found himself drawn out into the garden with them.

He ended up helping Jared keep his balance as Misha taught him some poses, even showing off his own skills from time to time when he wasn't worried about Jared falling over. It seemed Jared's height made him a bit clumsy, and Jensen couldn't help but grin at the sight of Jared wobbling trying to keep his balance on one foot.

Later in the week they went to see the Yankees play, Jared had been absolutely thrilled. He'd always wanted to go to Yankee stadium, he'd been past it several times, one of the places he was fond of going on his many escape attempts, he'd always try to sneak in though that usually resulted in him getting caught. It was an entirely different experience now - going with Jensen. They went in through the front gate up to a box that Jensen had. Jared pressed his face against the glass looking down at the field below them eyes wide - it was better than he'd ever imagined.

"Can we go down there?" He asked looking over his shoulder at Jensen, who gave him a bemused smile. "I mean it's just we're so high, could we be closer?" He asked again getting that hopeful look again; it seemed Jensen was unable to resist that look on Jared's face.

"I suppose so."

And then they were down right on the third base line, right above one of the dugouts. Jared swore he could have lived the rest of his life happy having gotten to do this, especially with Jensen Ackles. They had popcorn and hotdogs and sodas as they watched the game together.

It was a week Jared was always going to remember that much was certain, even when Jensen told him he really did have to work - he still got to spend time with Jeff and Misha and they made sure he was never bored, swimming in the pool and playing video games and going out to all the places Jared had been convinced he'd only ever see the outside of.

He couldn't have imagined anything better than this week he got to spend with Jensen.

Later in the week, Jared had lost count of the days, and he was starting to wish they wouldn't end - he couldn't imagine going back to the orphanage, couldn't imagine going back for the rest of his time and ... and just waiting, of ending up on the street when he finally got out. Jared was laying in bed staring up at the ceiling as he had on that first night he'd spent there.

Though that first night he hadn't been able to sleep because he was still trying to figure Jensen out - it was a bit different now, now he was dreading having to leave. It was stupid to think like that though, he was just some charity thing for Jensen, something to make him look better in the papers - and yet he couldn't help but think of the way Jensen shook his head and smiled, eyes crinkling as the smile reached all the way up his face when Jared practically begged him to stop working and do something with him. Surely that wasn't just acting; surely Jensen really was enjoying him being there.

He sighed sitting up.

It seemed he wasn't going to be getting any sleep, at least not for a while. And rather than just lay there in bed he thought he might try and beat Jensen's record on _Space Invaders_. Pulling himself up out of bed, Jared walked quietly down the hall, the whole house asleep, though he made a quick detour at the kitchen snatching a few pieces of cold pizza and a soda before he went into the game room.

Slinging himself over the back of the couch, Jared settled in to play.

It was several hours later when Jensen was heading down the hall, he'd been up late working on something he'd put off earlier in the day so he could take Jared to _FAO Schwartz_, he had grinned at the wide-eyed look on Jared's face when they went into the building. He didn't make it to his room tonight though, the light shining out of the game room stopped him and he went to see who was still up so late.

He smiled finding Jared hunkered down on the couch, he'd moved on from _Space Invaders_ to Halo. He was getting better - he could pull off more precision shots now, probably because he'd gotten in so much practice over the week.

"Hey," Jensen said as he stepped into the room.

Jared jumped, not expecting to hear anyone behind him, and paused the game turning to smile sheepishly at Jensen. "Hey, sorry I wasn't being too loud or anything was I?" he asked biting his lower lip.

"Nah, I was just finishing up some work," Jensen said as he let himself fall over the back of the couch and settled down next to Jared, he ended up leaning against Jared slightly and didn't bother to right himself.

"Couldn't sleep," Jared explained.

"Ah, and here I thought you were just trying to get in some practice to beat me the next time we played," Jensen teased.

Jared snorted. "I don't need to practice, I could beat you easily."

"Is that right?"

"Yep."

"Care to test that hypothesis?"

"Sure, if you think you're up for it."

"Shut up." Jensen laughed, pushing Jared's shoulder and reached for the second controller.

Jared lost count of the number of times they killed one another in the game, though they seemed to be pretty evenly matched. He wasn't sure how long they ended up playing before he collapsed laughing next to Jensen, eyes tired from watching the bright screen in the dark room.

"Okay, okay, let's just call this a draw," he said finally.

"Ah so you admit defeat," Jensen exclaimed, almost crowing with delight.

Jared rolled his eyes. "I'll be happy to show you that you haven't won if you like, but I think we'll end up playing the rest of the night if we do that."

"Hmm... perhaps, how about a draw for now, rematch at a later date?" Jensen suggested.

"Sure," Jared said slowly, replaying the words 'at a later date' in his head. He wasn't sure what that meant. He hoped it meant Jensen wanted him around longer. He sighed Jensen was leaning back against the couch near him, their shoulders brushing together as they sat there, both too tired to move much further.

And then Jared decided to make a complete and utter fool of himself, he wasn't exactly sure why he did it - he couldn't seem to help himself. He leaned in, there wasn't far to lean because they were so close already and pressed his lips against Jensen's, he moved slowly, half convinced Jensen was going to push him away. But to his complete and utter shock Jensen responded, he pushed his fingers into Jared's too long hair and pulled him closer.

The kiss was slow and tentative on both parts, but Jared was sure he could feel just how much Jensen wanted him as it went on, he couldn't be faking this couldn't be pretending - he had to be more than just some charity case to him, he had to be.

Jared wasn't sure how long they would have kissed if they hadn't been interrupted. Jared nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt something cold press against his ankle, and he pulled away from Jensen quickly only to find Bisou there looking up at him and wagging her tail expectantly.

"God." He swore shaking his head and reaching down to pet Bisou. "Trying to give me a heart attack?" he asked the dog shaking his head slowly.

"Jared." Jensen spoke softly, and Jared cautiously cast a glance in his direction, not sure what to expect. Even in the white light from the television screen Jared could see the way Jensen's eyes were dark and his eyes were drawn to his lips wondering if he might get the chance to kiss him again.

"I ... I mean I know this is probably pretty weird." he started slowly, speaking more hesitantly than Jared had heard him all week. "And I don't, I don't know how this would work or anything, but ... well, would you want to stay?" Jensen asked slowly watching Jared's face waiting for a reaction.

"I mean, I don't want to adopt you or anything." Jensen shook his head, and Jared was glad he couldn't imagine how that would work. "But I mean, I like you ... I like having you around, I like the way you make me relax and do things that I'm normally too busy for, and you could go to school if you wanted, or get a job, or work for me, whatever you wanted. I'd like if you would ... If you'd stay."

Jared felt his head spinning, stay? Here? He wanted to, god he wanted to stay so badly. It was just what he'd been thinking about, just what he'd been hoping for, Jensen really did want him to stay longer than just the week, he wasn't just some random person who was going to go in and out of his life - but.... his folks, he couldn't just give up on them because he'd found Jensen, he couldn't just forget that they were out there somewhere, waiting on him, missing him he had to find them.

"Jen," Jared started, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "I've loved being here, I've loved getting to spend time with you and Jeff and Misha, I can't tell you how much I've loved it - I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life. But ... my folks." He sighed, pulling the watch from his pocket and glancing at it sighing. "They're out there, waiting for me, I know it and ... I have to find them. I can't just ... They're waiting for me." He finished looking from his watch to Jensen's face.

Jensen's face fell, Jared could see that, could see the way what he said had hurt him. And he wanted to take it all back, wanted to crawl under some rock for doing that to him, but Jensen he pulled himself back together faster than Jared would have thought possible.

"I'll help you find them," he said finally, not really looking at Jared, his voice even as he spoke.

"You don't have to do that."

"Don't be silly I want to help, even if you don't … You're my friend and I want to help you, so don't argue," Jensen told him.

"Thanks."

* * *

  
"So what do you know about your parents?" Jensen asked the next day.

They'd headed back to their separate rooms not long after their conversation the night before. Today, Jensen called Jared into his office and he sat on the edge of Jensen's desk watching him sit at his computer.

"Not a lot." Jared shrugged, suddenly feeling very stupid.

"Well anything you know might help," Jensen urged.

"Well, I know we have the same last name," he said shrugging. "And they left this with me when they left me at the orphanage." He spoke quietly, pulling out his pocket watch and handing it to Jensen. "They left a note saying they didn't want to leave me, they just needed to get back on their feet and they'd come back for me." Of course they hadn't come back, but Jared was always convinced they still wanted him, they had to they were his parents after all.

"Padalecki is a pretty unique last name that should help," Jensen said, typing something into the computer - Jared wasn't really sure what he was doing, but Jensen seemed to know what he was doing. Jared was surprised at the number of hits his last name actually brought up - apparently there were more people with that last name than he had realized.

Together they went through the results one by one, but they weren't able to find anything about Jared's parents. Jeff brought them a pizza that afternoon, Jared had been so absorbed with what they were doing he hadn't even realized he was hungry until the smell hit his nose and his stomach growled loudly.

"Let's take a short break," Jensen said stretching his arms over his head before he pulled off his glasses dropping them on the desk and rubbing at his eyes.

"You don't need to be doing something else do you?" Jared asked, taking a piece of pizza at the same time. "I mean, I'm not keeping you from something more important, am I?"

Jensen rolled his eyes. "You're the one who told me I didn't actually have to work if I didn't want to," he pointed out. "And today I want to help you, I told you I would."

Jared was quiet after that, chewing slowly. Together they managed to finish off the pizza, though Jared ate most of it. And when they were finished it was back to work, scanning more results looking for anything that might have helped in their search.

It was late in the night when they finally called it quits for the day. Jared had pulled a chair around so he could sit beside Jensen and still see the computer screen and his head kept falling back as his body urged him toward sleep.

"I think we should stop for tonight, I don't think we're going to find anything like this," Jensen said rubbing his eyes again.

"But..." Jared started then stopped, pressing his lips together his brow wrinkling as he worried.

"It's alright Jared; we've only been looking for a day. I think tomorrow I might hire some outside help, someone who will have a better idea of where to look, alright?"

Jared nodded, he wasn't going to admit that he was worried, where else could they look; his brain hurt just thinking about it.

"You're tired, get some sleep and we'll start this up again tomorrow." Jensen said putting a hand on Jared's shoulder nudging him gently.

* * *

  
The next day Jared found out that Jensen had hired a private investigator; he was a bit surprised but answered all the questions the man had for him. Though he didn't have much to tell him.

"And now we wait." Jensen said sighing when the man left, "But on the bright side we should know something in a day or two." He gave Jared a reassuring smile. "So in the meantime what should we do?"

Jared shrugged, he couldn't think of anything else. All he could think about was his parents, they would find them he would see them again soon - what would he say to them, what would they say to him, what would they think of him, would they like the way he'd grown up. He sighed sitting down heavily.

"We could go see the Statue of Liberty," Jensen suggested. "Or we could go to the opera." Jared gave him a doubtful look. "All right, not the opera, which probably means Broadway is out too." Though Jared tried not to, the corners of his lips were pulling up slowly as Jensen spoke. "How about another Yankee's game?" Jared shook his head. "Central Park?" Jared had been there plenty of times over the years, he'd seen it all, and he shook his head again.

"Well then, what do you have in mind?" Jensen asked finally sighing as he struggled to come up with something they could do together.

"Don't you have work or something?" Jared asked.

"I told you before Jared, I don't have to work if I don't want to, and today I don't want to. So that means you have to entertain me." He said with a slow smile. "So what will we do today?"

Jared shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sorry, I just ... I'm really anxious you know. I mean what if we don't find them, or what if we do?" Jared had always been so confident about the idea of meeting his parents before, he'd told Chad and Tom and Mike about what it would be like so many times, but now - now that it seemed like it was actually possible he wasn't so confident. He didn't know what he would say, what he would do. "What if they don't like me?"

Jensen rolled his eyes. "Not like you? Have you talked to yourself lately?" He grinned, his eyes crinkling up in that way Jared liked. "Jared you're great. Funny and smart, and nice." Jensen bit his lip and gave Jared a very earnest look. "You're one of the greatest guys I've ever known and they'd be idiots not to love you." He fell silent, looking a bit embarrassed, but Jared appreciated that Jensen would try to reassure him this way.

Despite Jensen's assurance, Jared still wasn't convinced completely. "I dunno, I mean, I'm too tall and I'm always saying something stupid and doing things I shouldn't." Jared started to protest.

"Oh hush, they'll love you, they're your parents."

"Yeah."

They sat quietly together for a bit longer before Jensen started speaking again. "Did you ever hear about my parents?" He wondered and Jared shook his head.

"So many people seem to know so much about it, always have to ask before I start." Jensen said with a small smile. "They died, years ago." He started, and Jared was surprised, he hadn't known that, hadn't even suspected though he supposed he should have.

"It was an accident; we were on a trip, out in Colorado. We were staying in this cabin up on the mountains and we needed some more supplies. I didn't want to go with them, typical teenager." He said shaking his head at himself. "And so they went on their own, it shouldn't have taken them very long. There was a store in the little town at the bottom of the mountain; we used to take trips up there all the time when I was a kid."

Jared watched Jensen's face as he spoke.

"Anyway, it took me a long time to realize it was taking them too long, I didn't know what to do at first. Ended up calling down to the local sheriff's office." He sighed eyes closing as he spoke like he was reliving that phone call. "The roads were icy, they hit a patch of ice on their way down the mountain, lost control of the car, went off the road." He spared Jared the rest of the details.

"It was so surreal; I was just twelve at the time. I couldn't believe it; I didn't understand what the man was telling me at time. They ended up sending someone up the mountain to collect me. My Aunt came out, took care of things and I went to stay with her, well until I got all this." He said looking up at the ceiling above them.

"I didn't know," Jared said.

"How could you?"

"Do you miss them?"

"Every day."

Jared sighed, thinking about what that must have been like for Jensen, losing his parents like that, growing up without them - maybe they had more in common than he'd originally thought.

"Why'd you tell me?" Jared still wasn't exactly sure.

"I know what it's like to miss your parents," Jensen told him. "And if I can help you find yours, if I can help put your family back together, then that's what I'm going to do."   
Jared bit his lower lip and wondered for the hundredth time that week how he'd ended up here.

* * *

  
They spent the rest of that afternoon just talking, movies playing on the big screen though they didn't really pay attention, occasionally Jeff or Misha would bring them something to eat. They talked late into the night about what it had been like for Jared to grow up at the orphanage, about Jensen's time with his Aunt, about what it had been like to suddenly have more money than god, about Jared's friends, about his many run away attempts.

It wasn't until the next morning, when Jared woke in unfamiliar surroundings that he realized they must have fallen asleep talking. Jensen was leaning against his side, mouth open slightly and breathing deeply as he continued to sleep.

He pulled himself up carefully not wanting to wake Jensen yet, Jared was rather impressed with himself and his ability not to wake Jensen. He stood stretching his arms up over his head, the motion pulling his shirt up so a pale strip of skin was exposed above the top of his jeans.

The smell of breakfast was what pulled him out of the room; Jared followed his nose down the hall and into the kitchen to find Jeff and Misha talking as they worked together putting together something for breakfast.

"Good morning sunshine." Jeff smiled when he caught sight of Jared there in the doorway to the kitchen. Misha was sitting on the counter balancing a bowl in his lap and whisking together what must have been eggs. "Hungry?"

"When isn't he?" Misha answered for him a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah." Jared said a little embarrassed, he couldn't help that his stomach was a bottomless pit; he suspected most of his height had more to do with the size of his stomach than anything else.

"Well come on in." Jeff said with a quick nod of his head. "How would you fancy an omelet?"

"Sure." Jared nodded; he was never what anyone could call a picky eater.

The three of them were busy chopping this and that, Jared had discovered he had a bit of a knack for putting together ingredients that week and was currently slicing up some tomatoes for his own omelet when Jensen interrupted them.

"Having breakfast without me?" He asked a pout on his lips. "And I thought you loved me."

Jared's mouth went dry and he looked wide eyed at Jensen his eyes darting carefully to Jeff and Misha both of whom were just grinning. "Yes well as much as I love you some of us can't wait until noon before your highness wakes up to have breakfast." Jeff said with a small smirk.

"It's not noon." Jensen protested. "Did you make coffee?"

"Of course."

"Good."

Jensen pulled the pot of coffee over after Misha had assured him that yes they'd made coffee for him, just like they did every morning, and poured himself a large cup sighing as he wrapped his hands around the warmed ceramic.

"So what is our plan for the day?" Jensen asked leaning up against the counter near Jared now.   
Jared shrugged continuing to slice tomatoes slowly, concentrating very hard on the task in front of him - it would be just his luck that he'd slice his finger off today.

"We ought to hear back from our man some time today - so probably best if we stay around the house, at least until he gives us the news." Jensen said before taking another slow sip of coffee.

Jared nodded throwing his pile of tomatoes into the pan along with all the other ingredients he'd already chopped up.

"It'll be alright you know," Jensen said, putting a hand on Jared's shoulder.

Jared swallowed and tried to nod, but he knew Jensen couldn't promise him that, couldn't guarantee that things would work out the way he hoped, not even Jensen with all his money and charm could make this work the way Jared wanted, and all he could do was hope that things worked out - that they found his parents.

They finished cooking in silence, and the four of them had breakfast together out in the gardens. Jared needed the distraction of being outside, needed all the colors of the garden, the birds flying and chirping overhead, watching Bisou run around chasing after anything that moved, he just needed to be distracted - though he wasn't sure that was even possible today.

They waited.

And they waited.

And they waited.

It was nearly evening before the private investigator Jensen had hired returned to the house. He brought with him a manila envelope, it looked harmless enough, and he handed it to Jensen telling him that it was everything he could find and he hoped it was what they were looking for.

Jared felt his stomach clench as Jensen handed him the envelope. He was going to be sick; now that the moment was here he wasn't actually sure he could go through with this. He didn't think he could bear to see whatever it said.

"You don't have to look if you don't want to," Jensen told him.

"No, I have to," Jared said. "Not sure I can though." His voice shook, much the same way his hands did.

Jared stared at the envelope for ages, it sat on the desk in front of him - looming. And when he couldn't bear the weight of it any more Jared ripped it open and pulled out what was inside.

Papers, birth certificates, marriage license, tax reports - his parent's lives on papers. Robert and Lisa Padalecki, they got married when they were just a little older than Jared. They had moved to New York from Iowa, they were small town kids - they were going to be actors, or at least that's what Jared told himself. And there was his own birth certificate, there were his parents there names right there in black and white right next to his.

Jared couldn't help the grin that filled his face as he flipped through each page, drinking in all the information about his parents that he could, as soon as he finished one page he was on to the next. He completely forgot about Jensen being there in the room with him. He was thrilled, his parents were real, they weren't just some story he'd been telling himself all these years, and he was going to get to meet them - it was so close.

And then he flipped to the next page. It was a newspaper clipping, just a small article. An apartment fire, no one knew the cause, probably an accident, firefighters weren't able to save anyone, everyone inside had died. Jared felt his heart stop, his stomach clenched again and the color drained away from his face.

Jensen who had been watching Jared with a smile on his face at his enthusiasm noticed the change right away. "What is it?" He asked concerned.

Jared ignored him and flipped past the clipping, surely that was a mistake it didn't mean anything, maybe one of his parents had written the article, maybe they worked at the _New York Times_. There were only two bits of paper left, they were nearly identical. Death certificates, one for each of his parents. Cause of death, had been an apartment fire. It was an accident; no one could have done anything.

Jared read the certificates over and over again - his sight starting to blur around the edges, not noticing the tears rapidly filling his eyes.

They were dead, he didn't have anyone out there waiting for him, didn't have anyone wondering what kind of man he was going to grow up to be, didn't have parents who thought about him at night, who wished things could have been different, he was just like every other god damn orphan out there.

He stood up suddenly, still ignoring Jensen and left the room, walking slowly down the hallway from Jensen's office past the kitchen, past the game room and into the room he'd started to think of as his own. He fell to the floor when the door was closed, leaned against the side of the bed shoulders bowed and cried.

In all the time that he'd lived at the _Hudson Street Home for Boys_ Jared had never let himself cry for his situation - it could have been worse, at least he had someone out there waiting for him, at least he had parents who he would get to meet one day. And now all those years that he hadn't cried, all those times he'd held it in, he let it all out. Wrapping his long arms around himself, Jared let himself cry, felt himself fall apart until the only thing keeping him from shattering were his own arms around him - and that was all he'd ever had, just himself.

He cried until there wasn't anything left, until the tears dried, until his throat was hoarse from the sobs, until he couldn't feel anything anymore. The only sound that was left was the hitching of his breath as he sat there leaning against his bed, face buried in his arms, holding himself together.

* * *

  
Jensen thought about following Jared when he suddenly stood up and left the room, but instead he looked at the stack of papers that he'd left behind, read the article, read the death certificates and sighed cursing himself for ever suggesting this - maybe it would have been better to let Jared go on thinking that his family was still out there waiting on him.

He was tempted to throw it all way, to push all the papers into the trash for the way they'd hurt Jared, built up all that hope and excitement in him only to pull it all away again. He hated that he'd let this happen. Picking up the envelope Jensen crumpled it in his hands.

He frowned though when something hard stopped him from crumpling it the way it should.   
Opening the envelope again, Jensen shook out a small piece of metal into his palm.

* * *

  
Jared didn't know how long he sat there, didn't know how long he was alone. It must have been hours, it could have been days, he wasn't sure – it didn't matter though. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now, his whole life he'd been planning for the day when he'd be able to start trying to find his parents … and now, now he didn't know what to do.

There was a soft knock on the door, Jared didn't answer, just held himself tighter.

"Jared?" It was Jensen, he opened the door slowly. Jared didn't look up, didn't say anything just tried to keep himself from falling apart again in front of Jensen.

Rather than say anything, than to ask what happened – he'd probably read the papers, knew what they said – Jensen shut the door. Jared almost thought he'd left until he felt Jensen sliding down to the floor beside him.

"I know this hurts." He said with a sigh. "I know this isn't what you hoped we'd find, but maybe it's better that you know the truth." He spoke slowly keeping his voice even.

"How?" Jared asked, not looking up. "How is this better?"

"You know, you know what happened to them, you won't have to spend years of your life trying to find this out on your own, you know what happened to them. And that's more than some people ever get." Jensen spoke softly.

Jared didn't respond, what could he say to that.

"You left this." Jensen said, holding the bit of metal he'd found in the envelope in his open palm out to Jared.

Jared didn't look for a long time, kept his face pressed into his arms, couldn't do anything more than that. Jensen didn't move though, just kept his hand there open to Jared holding out the last remaining piece of his family to him.

When Jared finally did turn to see what Jensen was offering him, his heart skipped a beat again, he reached out with shaky fingers, picking up the bit of metal carefully and at the same time fumbling to reach into his pocket at the same time and pull out his watch. The pieces fit together perfectly, the little snick as they came together made Jared's chest tight.

He opened the watch cover, the inscription inside finally complete.

_To our son, all our love, always._

Jared didn't try to hold back the new wave of tears that began to bloom in his eyes again, didn't bother wiping at his face. Didn't pull away when Jensen put an arm around his shoulders, he curled into him pressing his face against Jensen's shoulder, clung to him and struggled to breathe.

* * *

  
It seemed like Jared was losing track of time more and more often these days, it had been easy to forget about the time when he'd been playing Halo with Jensen, when they'd been talking for hours, when Jeff and Misha were teasing him about something, and now as he clung to Jensen trying to hold himself together.

He didn't know how long they sat like that, but his arms and back ached when he finally sat up again, his eyes were tired and red and his throat still hoarse.

"I'm sorry." He spoke in a whisper.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"It's just … it's not what I expected, I've lived my whole life waiting to meet them and I'll never get the chance. I'm just another kid without a family." Jared scrubbed his hands over his face telling himself he wasn't going to cry again, he'd cried enough for one day, enough for a year.

"I know."

They were quiet after that, just sitting side by side in the dark, the sun having slipped down behind the trees hours ago – Jeff and Misha hadn't bothered them, they were probably in bed by now.

"Jared." Jensen started slowly. "I know I can't … I can't ever replace your parents, I can't ever be what they should have been to you, but you don't … you have a family, if you want it, here, Jeff, Misha … me."

Jared didn't know what to say – how could he respond to that, Jensen had given him more in the past week than anyone in his entire life and now he was offering him a family? Jared couldn't understand it.

"I'm just a kid, just an orphan why would you want me?"

"You don't see yourself the way I do, you're not just a kid. I've never met anyone like you before."

Jared sighed glancing at Jensen out of the corner of his eye. "I just ... I need to think about it okay?"

Jared hated himself for the way Jensen's face fell - yet again, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. It seemed like he was hurting Jensen more and more these days.

He tipped his head back leaning against the mattress behind him and letting his eyes close, he needed to stop thinking, it hurt to think about his parents, it hurt to think about Jensen, and it hurt to think about leaving. In the end it was only sleep that managed to stop his whirling mind. He didn't know if Jensen had left or not, but Jared drifted off there on the floor leaning against the bed.

* * *

  
The week had come to an end. Jared didn't know how he could go back to _Hudson Street_ after what had happened, how he was just supposed to go back to Chad and Tom and Mike and live out the last few weeks he had there like everything was the same.

He was folding up his new clothes, Jeff told him in no uncertain terms that he had to take them with him, and so now he stood at his bed a suitcase open and was slowly folding up the new shirts and pants he'd gotten one at a time and packing them away.

All he wanted was a family, people to love him for the person he was, people who would care about him when he was sick and laugh when him when things were good - he'd spent his whole life waiting for that and now ...

He thought about the past week, about Jeff and Misha how they'd teased him and laughed with him easily, about Bisou seeking him out for attention, about all the games they'd played, all the new and exciting things he'd done about Jensen.

And he stopped.

He wasn't just some orphan to Jensen, hadn't Jensen asked him to be a part of his family. Didn't they love him despite all his clumsy mistakes? Jensen, even Jeff and Misha they were ... they were like a family already, in just the past week. Even Chad and Tom and Mike back at the orphanage, they'd been a family, still were - and god he felt so stupid now for not seeing it.

The pair of jeans he'd been folding dropped out of his hands as the realization hit him, and he wondered if it was too late. He'd told Jensen he needed to think about his offer, needed time, but he hadn't said anything about it since then - and now they were getting ready to take him back and he wondered if it was too late.

Jared sprinted from his room down the hall past the game room and the kitchen as fast as he could and rushed into Jensen's office without knocking praying he was there that he hadn't left to go to some meeting or something.

Jensen was there, facing away from the door staring out the window, looking more upset than Jared had seen him all week. He turned at Jared's sudden entrance.

"Everything alright?" He asked, wiping a hand quickly across his face.

"Um ... yeah I mean. Look, I've thought about it, my whole life all I've ever wanted was a family, I just ... I wanted to feel loved and I don't think I've felt that anywhere more than I have here with you this week and I mean, if you still want me, if I haven't taken too long – I'd like to stay, if that's alright."

The smile that spread across Jensen's face was more brilliant than any Jared had seen and he stood up from the desk quickly covering the space that had separated them. Jensen caught Jared's neck in his hand pulling him down so their lips pressed together - slow and sweet and reminding Jared that this was what he'd been waiting for.

"You're a dork, you know that?" Jensen said, his voice thick with emotion when he pulled away.

"I know," Jared said a small laugh breaking through what Jared hoped was not another round of tears; he'd done enough of that already. And he had a feeling he wouldn't have to do any of that ever again, not here with Jensen.

And they all lived happily ever after.


End file.
